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L G, FRIEDMAN CREATOR KIT Filed April 1933 J29? ZNVENTOR.

, Leg 6. Friedman Patented Aug. 20, 1935 -NlTED STATES CREATOR KIT Leo G. Friedman, Greenwich, Comm, assignor to Nelson Littell, New Canaan, Conn.

Application April 5, 1933, Serial No. 664,467

i 2 Claims.

times desire to make some ornamental or useful objects from suitable easily worked materials when such construction is within the realm of their powers and results in attractive objects.

Numerous elements have been suggested such I as clay modeling material, metallic structural sections, building blocks, etc., but such materials have proved unsatisfactory in many respects because of their limited application, dimculty in moulding and lack. of usefulness as well as lack of ornamentation of the final object. 7

It is my discoverythat sponge rubber has many advantagesover heretofore used materials and is highly advantageous for the construction oi useful as well as ornamental articles. Among other features it has a three dimensional character in that a structure representing some animate or inanimate object may be built from it. Secondly, sponge rubber is clean, sanitary and not destructive of clothing or furniture and may be washed in soap and water if desired. Thirdly, it is inexpensive, readily formed, and may have an inherent coloring so that the resultant object has a decorative value when completed, rather than a mere colorless product.

Ihave also found that sponge rubber of the available commercial form ofiers unexcelled qualities for modeling purposes and is particularly eifective in view of its double character of smooth and roughened surfaces, the smooth surface. being the normal vulcanized surface. It fulfills all the requirements of an ideal material and also has the characteristic of lightness and natural appearextraordinarily resilient is not readily pasted to other pieces of sponge rubber without the use of some form of special rubber cement not normally available. On the other hand the forming tool, namely, the scissors is omitted for every purchaser usually has one or more pairs of scissors at hand. Furthermore, the shape of the pieces is often suggestive of a desired shape without cutting.

As suggested forms of kit the attached drawing schematically illustrates part of the contents of preferred kits and certain suggested animals and other objects which may be made are indicated.

Figure l is a perspective view showing the contents of a small creator kit primarily for children.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of an animal in completed form made in accordance with the instruction sheet.

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the units from which the animal is assembled.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a coaster to go under a wamr tumbler.

The junior creator kit shown in Figure l preferably comprises a supply of sponge rubber in different forms represented by the pieces Ill. These may include regular sized sheets of different colors, die out forms as well as the residue from die cutting and they will be of different thicknesses for variety. Very often the shape is more suggestive than illustrative of-a completed product thus calling upon the child to use his imagination in completing objects from the various miscellaneous shapes. 'The normal skin is left on some of the surfaces of some of the sponge rubber pieces as indicated in the folded piece Ill at the right of Fig. l. The sponge rubber may be oi any desired thickness, usually varying from one-quarter to one inch in thickness and often the pieces will be formed of cemented layers of greater thickness. The colors include the primary and secondary as well as mixed colors which colors are vulcanized into the rubber. The sponge rubber itself is a well known article of commerce and is normally porous, light, and is readily cut by an ordinary pair of scissors. Porosity as well as texture are also variable.

The kit further includes besides the sponge rubber a. special rubber cement sufllcient to form the articles made from the sponge rubber, it being merely necessary to apply the cement in a. thin coating to the sponge rubber on both pieces to be Joined allowing the cement to become tacky and then holding the cemented portions together for a'momenh, It will be found that they stick together readily and permanently. The sponge rubber may be cemented on either surface, either For example, camel G which is illu are suitably cemented together.

the porous portions being secured to another porous portion or to the normal skin retained surface or both skin surfaces may be cemented together.

As an encouragement to the development of the child as well as an informative explanation of the material, an. illustrated pamphlet and instruction sheet 02 is supplied with each kit. The instruction sheet includes three particular portions as iollcws:

(a) The general directions lZa heretofore mentioned for operating with sponge rubber.

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in completed form in Figure ii consists preferably of a head to and body Ila, rliombold shaped legs G'J, tail iii, cubical eyes ii) ears As previously described each of the respective sections is cut to the proper shape or may be found suggestively shaped in the sponge rubber supplied,

and then the cement is applied to the adjoining surfaces. Preferably, difierent colors of sponge rubber are used for the respective sections increasing the attractiveness of the'completed element.

' Usually the animals prove most satisfactory not only because of their simplicity in construction, but because oi their unusually realistic appesrance when completed and because their natural appeal as coming within the childs experience.

The instruction sheet is only suggestive ofpossibilities and is not intended to indicate all. of the products which may be made from the kit. Given such a kit; however, the child will imagine some particular element which he prefers to build or make and witha scissors can cut out the desired sections from the sponge rubber elements and subsequently cement them together for creative development work. Kindergarten teachers find the sponge rubber kits especially useful as a medium of artistic instruction and development of creative ability and by creating-new designs or taking instructional designs from the more imaginative or creative children can provide an almost endless variety of things to be made.

This kit is not limited. to toys but may be used by others for constructing household articles of sponge rubber. There is no limit to the number and variety oi' objects which may be made- The adult size creator kit is usually of larger size and has a greater variety of material. It is preferably enclosed in a suitable box and has an instruction sheet similar to the sheet of Figure 1, except the instructions are related to more mature products such as coasters, bath mats, games, ornamental objects, etc.

Illustrative of one product is the.coaster 40 shown in Figure 4. which is formed from a bottom portion a and a rimportion "b which It willthus be seen that I have produced in the creator kit as exemplified in Figure l, the necessarymaterial for making any desired prodnot which may vary'in size from the toy article animal, doll and similar things for. the child to raw material for adult use for making of coasters, cushions and 0t er ornamental objects. In the kit the imagine. on plays a. strong part in that the primary product does not necessarily resemble the finished product and it must be first cut to the proper shape and then suitably cemented together. Caricatures may also be made, the kit being of the same general form i'or either the childs toys or for the adults games. In both vcases the sponge rubber is of many different colors and a variety of shapes, some of which are suggestive of part or all of the fin ished product and may or may not have the in herent vulcanisedrubber slain surface on parts thereof. It is easily cementeo and innumerslt-e objects can be made within the realm oi the agination of the its rough porous sur face is particularly attractive and suggestive Iii-any articles such as lawns, hedges, etc. Completed houses with lawns, hedges, trees, fiOWEIS, pools, etc, may be created out of sponge rubber parts by the exercise of a little imagine tion and creative workmanship. r

, It is also within the scopeozl this invention to provide a kit of preformed pieces, which when properly assembled, will make a single one of the preferred animals, structures, or pieces which kit would be smaller size but otherwise include the sponge rubber material, the single instruction sheet and the cement. 'Iheinstruction sheet will of course, not only show the preferred final construction but the detail instructions of assembly but would differ from the sheet shown in Figure 1 in that it would relate to but one ar= ticle'.

Such a kit might well be used as a game by withdrawing the instruction sheet and permitting difierent players, to operate on the same,

pieces to determine who'is the quickest in inventing an animal or other object and creating the most satisfactory article would entitle the winner to a prize. It would only be necessary to supply the minimum number of pieces for a slim ple article under such circumstances.

While I have shown a preferred form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that other modifications may be made therein and I therefore desire abroad interpretation of the same within the scope and spirit of the disclosure herein and of the claims appended hereinafter.

I claim: f

1. An educational toy in three dimensions composed of a plurality of pieces of flexible sponge rubber preliminarily cut in shapes which suggest various portions of figures and adapted with;

some alteration to make a complete figure, some of said pieces having both normal skin surfaces and porous surfaces and an adhesive to bind the assembled pieces in final position.

2. In a toy figure construction set, a number of pieces of sponge rubber cut to various shapes to form, ,when' assembled in various ways, figures to represent animate and inanimate objects,

. LEO G. 

